Marking tool



S. H. PHILLIPS ARKING TOOL A ril 25-, 1944.

Filed June 26, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BM 80.92 m

Filed June 26, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 *1 a I Hll R m f M m m m) I m l[2:- N

N Q 5 N Patented Apr. 25, 1944.

UNITE 23mm v MARKING TOOL Stanley Herbert Phillips, Stratford, Conn, as-

signor to The Warner Brothers Company, Bridgeport, Conn, a corporationof Connecticut Application June 26, 1942, Serial No. 448,574

12 Claims. (Cl. 101-26) the identity of each of the cut pieces beclearly indicated; and to avoid confusion it has long been the custom topunch holes in the diiferent piles to indicate, for example, whichpieces are to be top and left, piece No. 1, piece No. 2," etc., in theassembled garments. Punched holes are also used to indicate, for theinformation of the assembling operators, the location of ornaments to besewed on to the material, buttons, lines for reinforcing strips, hems,folds, laps, darts, plus and minus tolerance, and location ofsuperimposed pieces. 7

The punching of holes simultaneously in a pile of fabric pieces toindicate data such as above specified is regular procedure in manyfactories and is satisfactory so far as some materials are concerned.However, in soft, spongy, open weaves, and incertain types of knitmaterials, particularly nets and laces, such holes are practicallyworthless because they tend to close up and are not discernible. Toovercome this disadvantage it has become the custom to effect therequired marking with a colored pencil, but this is disadvantageoussince it involves marking each piece separately, layer by layer, and isa time-consuming process.

It has been proposed to provide marking machines having ink reservoirsin conjunction with mechanism for piercing the layers of material andapplying ink thereto from the reservoir. Such machines, however, are ofcomplicated character. The practice of marking pieces individually asabove referred to, continues to prevail in factories generally.

An object of my invention is to provide for the simultaneous marking ofmultiple layers of material in a novel and highly effective manner.Through my invention the multiple layers may be marked speedily andefficiently, without the need for complex mechanisms, and withparticular economy and simplicity. In carrying out my invention Iimpregnate a thread with a coloremployed in typewriter ribbons, and passthe thread into and out of the multiple layers so that a colored mark isimparted to each of the layers in the desired locations.

The invention also comprises a novel method of and means for passing thethread into and out of the layers. Other objects and advantages will behereinafter described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation, partly in vertical section, of a markingimplement embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of said implement viewed from a directionat right angles to Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of saidimplement.

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing a modified form of awl for carrying thethread through a pile of fabrics.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

' Fig. 6 is a view in end elevation of another form of markingapparatus.

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation, with parts in vertical section, ofthe apparatus shown in Fig. 6.

As stated above, in carrying out my invention I impregnate a thread witha suitable coloring compound. The latter may conveniently be an ink,preferably of the type which, over a considerable period of time, doesnot evaporate sufiiciently in the material which carries it' to lose itscolor-imparting property. Examples of such inks are those commonlyemployed in typewriter ribbons and stamp pads. The ink may be of black,blue, red, or any other desired color and may be either indelible orreadily removable by washing. The coloringcompound employed may, ofcourse, vary widely, depending upon the character of the mark desired.The thread may also be of any suitable and well-known type. Ordinarycotton threads may be used. I

In the drawings the thread is designated by the numeral ,2. Aparticularly. convenient hand tool for applying the thread to themarking of fabrics is shown in Figs. l-3; wherein said tool isillustrated ascomprising a bait 3, which may be of wood or othersuitable material, to which issecured an awl or needle 'lhaving an eye 5through which the thread is passed. -Said awl t may conveniently :befitted into an opening in a cap 6, which may be of metal and secured tothe end of the bait 3 by screws I. A bolt or screw 8 imparting material,such as an ink of the type serves to maintain the awl 4 securely inposition in said cap 6. A color 4 fits over the butt end of the awl, asshown, and is provided with openings 4" for the passage of the thread.

A reel 9 containing a supply of the thread is mounted rotatably on apintle III which is fixed in position in the haft 3. From said reel 9the thread is led through a groove II in said haft,

and thence through passages I12 and I3 in the cap 6, one of the openings4" in collar 4', the eye 5 of said awl, the opposite passage 4",passages and I5 of cap 6, groove IS in the haft, and finally on to atake-up reel I! on said pintle Ill.

The pintle I0 is split at each of its ends, and the reels 9 and I! mayconveniently be maintained in assembled position by slightly spreadingor peening the respective split ends of said pintle, as shown in Fig. 3.In order to provide effectively for the unwinding of the thread from thesupply reel the latter may be mounted more freely for rotation on thepintle than is the reel II. To this end the split end of said pintleadjacent the reel I1 is spread 'or peened over to a greater extent thanis the split end adjacent the reel 9, thus maintaining the reel I! withsomewhat greater force in engagement with the adjacent wall of the haft,but without preventing manual rotation of the reel Il.

To mark simultaneously a pile of fabrics, such as shown at l8, a patternI3 is placed over said fabrics and the pile placed upon a cutting boardor block 20, on which said fabrics may be cut to the shape of saidpattern, Said pile may be held in position by downward pressure appliedthrough weights or clamps in the usual manner. The haft 3 may then beforced downwardly to pass theawl 4, together with the associated portionof the thread 2, through the pattern and fabrics on said cutting block.In this downward travel of the awl and the thread, no unwinding of thethread from the supply reel 9 occurs. However, upon raising the haft 3to withdraw the awl and thread against the resistance provided by theengagement of the thread with the downwardly pressed fabrics, a downwardpull of the thread is produced with respect to the haft. A smallincrement of the thread is thus unwound from the supply reel, thetake-up reel l'l remaining held against rotation since it is held moretightly against the haft as above stated. When desired, the operator mayreadily rotate the reel I! manually to take-up thereon the slack in thethread resulting from marking operations.

The end of the haft may, if desired, be provided with padding 3' forreceiving blows from a hammer to force the needle into a pile of fabricsto be marked.

On the withdrawal of the thread from the fabrics, all of the layers ofthe latter are plainly marked by the coloring compound in the thread.The operation is repeated for each additional location to be marked inthe fabric pile.

The piercing of the fabrics to pass the thread therethrough may ofcourse be accomplished by a wide variety of means. A further example ofapparatus for this purpose is illustrated in Figs. 6

28 on which are journaled a thread supply reel 29 and a take-up reel 30.

For reciprocating the awl or needle 2|, the shaft 23 has a disk 3|secured thereto, which disk carries a crank pin 32 connected by link 33a pin 3| suitably fastened to said awl, as by an integral sleeve orcollar element 34' in which said awl is securely fastened.

The thread 35, impregnated with a suitable coloring compound, is passeddownwardly from the supply reel 29 through an eye in the awl and thenceupwardly to the take-up reel 30. While various provisions may be madefor providing greater resistance to rotation of the reel 30 than torotation of reel 28 as the awl is raised from the fabric pile, so thatan increment of thread is withdrawn from said reel 29. one convenientway in which this may be accomplished is to pass the thread through aninclined opening 36 in the frame so that said thread, in its passage tothe take-up reel, bears frictionally against a wall of said inclinedopening. Thus, as the awl rises from the fabric, the thread unwinds fromthe supply reelin preference to the take-up reel. The operator may fromtime to time rotate the take-up reel manually to take up slack in thethread.

In Figs. 4 and 5 there is shown a modified form of awl 40 which may beemployed, in which grooves or channels II are provided along oppositesides of said 'awl for guiding the thread to and from the eye of theawl. The depth of said channels should be such as to enable the thread 2to extend outwardly beyond said channels, as shown, so that marking ofthe fabrics may be effected by the thread.

It will be apparent that the utility of my invention is not restrictedto the marking of textile fabrics and that it may be used for themarking of other materials such as paper or leather. The

' term fabric" as used in the appended claims is and 7, in which the awl2i is reciprocable by the employed generically as including suchmaterials.

Also, my marking thread may be employed, without any needle or awl, forexternal marking. It has proven distinctly effective, for example, forthe marking of parachute shroud lines. In such marking, the shroud lineis held under tension, the thread passed around the line for a fullturn, and the ends of the thread pulled alternately in a sawing motion.One such sawing motion of the thread has been found suflicient toproduce a distinctive and satisfactory mark around the shroud-line. Thethread may similarly be employed for marking ropes.

Another example of the uses of my marking thread is as a stencil. Thecolored thread may, for instance, be placed in the bobbin of a sewingmachine and used for stitching a desired pattern into a piece of fabric.The pattern formed by the bobbin thread may then be pressed against thearticle to be marked.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the useof such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described or portions thereof but recognize thatvarious modifications are possible within the scope of the inventionclaimed.

I claim:

1. In combination, a thread of absorbent material having a transferablecoloring substance therein, a needle having an eye through which saidthread is passed, supply and take-up means for said thread, and meansfor passing said neeaaszsas die and said thread into and out of aplurality of fabric layers for imparting color thereto.

2. In combination, a thread of absorbent material having a transferablecoloring substance therein, a needle having an eye through which saidthread is passed, means for supporting said 11 die and adapted formovementto carry said needle and said thread into and out of a pluralityof fabric layers for imparting color thereto, and

supply and take-up means for said thread, said supply and take-up meansbeing mounted for movement with said needle.

3. In combination, a thread of absorbent material having a transferablecoloring substance therein, a needle'having an eye through which saidthread is passed, means for supporting said needle and adapted formovement to carry said needle and said thread into and out of aplurality of fabric layers for imparting color thereto, thread supplymeans movable with said needle and adapted to be operated to release anincrement of thread during withdrawal of said thread from said layers,and thread take-up means movable with said needle.

4. In combination, a thread of absorbent material having a transferablecoloring substance therein, a needle having an eye through which saidthread is passed, means for supporting said needle and adapted formovement to carry said needle and said thread into and out of aplurality substance, a nee le through which said threadis adapted to bepassed, means for passing said needle and thread into and out of a pileof fabric layers, thread supply means responsiveto withdrawal of saidthread from said fabric for releasing an increment of said thread, andtake-up means operable to remove slack from said thread.

6. A hand marking tool for passing through a pile of fabric layers athread of absorbent material having a transferable coloring substancetherein, said tool comprising a body portion adapted to be grasped bythe hand of an operator, a needle carried by said body portion andhaving an eye for receiving said thread, and thread supply and take-upmeans carried by said body portion for movement therewith and with saidneedle.

7. A hand marking tool for passing through a pile of fabric layers athread of absorbent material having a transferable coloring substancetherein, said tool comprising a body portion adapted to be grasped bythe hand of an operator, a needle fixed to said body portion for move-:ment therewith and having an eye for receiving said thread, and threadsupply and take-up means carried by said body portion for movementtherewith and with said needle.

8. A hand marking tool for passing through a pile of fabric layers athread of absorbent material having a transferable coloring substancetherein, said tool comprising a body portion adapted to be grasped bythe hand of an operator, a needle carried by said body portion andhaving an eye for receiving said thread, and thread supply and take-upmeans carried by said body portion for movement therewith and with saidneedle, and means providing for less resistance to operation of saidsupply means than said take-up means for releasing an increment ofthread from said supply means during withdrawal of said needle and saidthread from said fabric layers.

9. Ahand marking tool for passing through a pileof fabric layers athread of absorbent .material having a transferable coloring substancetherein, said tool comprising a body portion adapted to be grasped bythe hand of an operator, a needle carried by said body portion andhaving an eye for receiving said thread, thread.

' and thread supply and take-up means mounted withinsaid body portionfor movement therewith and with said needle.

ll. A hand marking tool for passing through a pile'of fabric layers athread of absorbent material having a transferable coloring substancetherein, said tool comprising a body portion adapted to be grasped bythe hand of an operator, a needle fixed to an end of said body portionand having an eye for receiving said thread, and thread supply andtake-up means mounted within said body portion for movement therewithand with said needle, said body portion having passageways therein forconducting said thread from said supply means to said needle and thenceto said take-up means.

12. A hand marking tool for passing through a pile of fabric layers athread of absorbent material having a transferable coloring substancetherein, said tool comprising a body portion adapted to be grasped bythhand of an operator, a needle carried by said body portion and having aneye for receiving said thread, and

thread supply means carried by said body portion and responsive towithdrawal of said thread from said fabric layers for releasing anincrement of said thread.

STANLEY ERT PHILLIPS.

